ONT passenger traffic down in May

May passenger traffic figures for LA/Ontario International Airport declined 9 .3 percent from the same month last year, making it the largest drop in monthly passenger traffic since October 2011.

Back in 2011 ONT experienced a 10.2 percent decline in passenger traffic compared from the same month in 2010.

Figures released by Los Angeles World Airports on Wednesday show ONT recorded 339,082 travelers this past May as opposed to the 373,975 that utilized the twin terminals in May 2012.

Overall, there was a nearly 8 percent decline in the amount of travelers coming in and out of ONT for the first four months of the year compared to the same time frame in 2012.

To date, 1.6 million passengers have utilized the airport.

In air cargo, there was a nearly 3 percent decline in May compared to the same time frame in May 2012. For the year, the amount of air cargo tonnage moved through the Inland Empire facility was up 1.2 compared to the firs four months in 2012.

In a report to the Ontario International Airport Authority earlier this month. Nick Johnson, aviation consultant told the board there could be a 10.7 percent decline in seats scheduled at ONT this past May.

But Johnson told the authority ONT is on track to handle fewer than 4 million passengers , 25 percent of its capability, this year.

Although there is still a downward trend in passenger traffic at ONT, it is not as severe as the days when it was experiencing double-digit declines - some as high as 30 percent - on a monthly basis.